Source of the post All the planets would need super powerful magnetic fields if they were to keep their atmosphere and water.

You need planetary rotation for that to stay long enough, given their proximity and tidally locked nature that is really unlikely. Having a large moon like the Earth has also seems to be a contributing factor, some recent studies have suggested interactions between the Earth and moon have helped with the dynamo.

Source of the post Well Doc if a large moon is needed then that would necessitate substantial changes to the Drake equation.

Hard to say, but I tend to go with the mediocrity principle. We find ourselves on a planet that just to happens to have a steady axial tilt, strong magnetic field, not too high and not too low of gravity, and a couple of these factors have been influenced by the moon. If the moon is required for our kind of life to evolve, then it should come as no surprise to find ourselves with a relatively rare large moon because you wouldn't find life like us where there isn't one. Who knows, but things that seem rare or unlikely may just be required.

Source of the post Well Doc if a large moon is needed then that would necessitate substantial changes to the Drake equation.

Hard to say, but I tend to go with the mediocrity principle. We find ourselves on a planet that just to happens to have a steady axial tilt, strong magnetic field, not too high and not too low of gravity, and a couple of these factors have been influenced by the moon. If the moon is required for our kind of life to evolve, then it should come as no surprise to find ourselves with a relatively rare large moon because you wouldn't find life like us where there isn't one. Who knows, but things that seem rare or unlikely may just be required.

Really hard to tell with a sample size of 1 but you may be right. It's why I've never asked about if we could get renditions of aliens for SE- as humans we'd be very biased about what such creatures would look like. I wouldn't mind seeing exotic plants incorporated into the program though- especially with some color other than green for chlorophyll that depends on the color of the parent sun. I also wouldn't mind seeing exotic architecture, transportation or roads in the program- think this would be incorporated some time in the future?If you really want to be ambitious you could simulate evolution. Imagine rewinding Earth to >65 million years ago and seeing dinosaurs still roaming the earth and then see the big bad asteroid crash into the Yucatan and Earth's climate changes just like that? Could you imagine simulating evolution on exoplanets? First things first, I would like to see the proper positions of stars, planets and moons millions of years in the past and in the future- would be fun if we could simulate historic supernova explosions too (from all over the galaxy and universe.) Think any of this can be done, Doc?

Also, I saw you say you only use LOD +2 for screenshots, Doc, what do you normally use when running the simulation?